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But the world as it is today is still unacceptable.
但是，今天的世界仍然是不可接受的。
It's unacceptable that millions of children die every year, that hundreds of millions live on less than two dollars a day, which is an incredibly low poverty line.
每年有数百万儿童死亡，数亿儿童每天靠不到两美元生活，这是令人难以置信的低贫困线，这是不可接受的。
But pick almost any metric of human wellbeing, and you'll find that the world has become a much better place.
但是，选择几乎所有衡量人类福祉的指标，你会发现世界已经变得更加美好。
But that progress has come at a cost.
但这一进展是有代价的。
It's come at a cost to the environment.
这是以牺牲环境为代价的。
We burn wood and fossil fuels for energy.
我们燃烧木材和化石燃料作为能源。
We expanded farmlands at the cost of forests, and our insatiable appetite for meat means we now use half of the world's habitable land for farming.
我们以牺牲森林为代价扩大了农田，我们对肉类的贪得无厌的胃口意味着我们现在将世界上一半的可居住土地用于耕种。
We kill billions of animals every year.
我们每年杀死数十亿只动物。
These are the trends that make us feel doomed.
这些趋势使我们感到注定要失败。
We see these lines rising, and we assume they might never stop.
我们看到这些线在上升，我们认为它们可能永远不会停止。
But more recent data tells us a slightly different story.
但是最近的数据告诉我们一个略有不同的故事。
A more hopeful story, that we can turn things around.
一个更有希望的故事，我们可以扭转局面。
This is per-capita CO2 emissions in the UK since 1750.
这是自1750年以来英国的人均二氧化碳排放量。
Over the last few decades, emissions in the UK have halved.
在过去的几十年中，英国的排放量减少了一半。
That means that my carbon footprint today is less than half that of my grandparents' when they were my age.
这意味着我今天的碳足迹还不到我这个年龄的祖父母的一半。
That's despite the fact I live a much more extravagant lifestyle, or, as they'd put it, "You youngsters just don't know how good you've got it these days."
尽管事实上我过着更加奢侈的生活方式，或者，正如他们所说，“你们这些年轻人只是不知道自己现在的生活方式有多好。”
Now, you might think the UK's cheating here.
现在，你可能会认为英国在这里作弊。
It used to be this industrial powerhouse, now it gets China, India and Bangladesh to produce its stuff for it.
它曾经是这个工业强国，现在它让中国、印度和孟加拉国为它生产东西。
Maybe it's just offshored all these emissions.
也许所有这些排放都离岸了。
There's a bit of truth to this -- when we adjust for trade, emissions in the UK are higher -- but we still see this dramatic decline over the last few decades.
这有一点道理——当我们根据贸易进行调整时，英国的排放量会更高——但在过去的几十年中，我们仍然看到这种急剧下降。
Offshoring is a bit of the story, but it's not the entire story.
离岸外包有点像故事，但这不是故事的全部。
At the same time, the UK has increased its GDP.
同时，英国增加了其国内生产总值。
GDP has gone up, while emissions have come down.
国内生产总值上升了，而排放量下降了。
And it's not the only country to achieve this.
而且它不是唯一一个实现这一目标的国家。
You will see the same for the US, for Germany, France, Spain, Portugal.
法国、西班牙、葡萄牙，你也会看到同样的情况。
A long list of countries have increased GDP while reducing their emissions.
许多国家在减少排放的同时提高了GDP。
And again, this is not just because they've offshored them.
再说一遍，这不仅仅是因为他们已经离岸外包了。
The notion that economic growth has to be incompatible with reducing our environmental impact is simply wrong.
认为经济增长必须与减少我们的环境影响不相容的观念是完全错误的。
Now rich countries are reducing their emissions, but low- and middle-income countries are increasing theirs.
现在，富裕国家正在减少排放，而低收入和中等收入国家却在增加排放。
What does this mean at a global level?
这在全球层面意味着什么？
Well, total CO2 emissions are now beginning to flatline, but actually, emissions per person already peaked a decade ago.
好吧，二氧化碳总排放量现在开始趋于平缓，但实际上，人均排放量已经在十年前达到峰值。
That means the emissions of the average person in the world today have peaked, and are now falling.
这意味着当今世界普通人的排放量已经达到顶峰，现在正在下降。
And we will see a peak in total CO2 emissions soon.
我们很快就会看到二氧化碳总排放量达到峰值。
Now, why is this happening?
现在，为什么会发生这种情况？
A big driver has been technological change.
一个重要的推动力是技术变革。
Here, we see coal production in the UK since 1700.
在这里，我们可以看到自1700年以来英国的煤炭产量。
Now the UK was the birthplace of industrial coal, and it has now died there.
现在，英国是工业煤炭的发源地，现在它已经消失在那里。
When I was born, more than half of the UK's electricity was coming from coal.
当我出生时，英国一半以上的电力来自煤炭。
This is now less than two percent.
现在还不到百分之二。
And it’s dying in many other countries too.
而且它在许多其他国家也在消亡。
You will see the same for the US, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Ireland.
美国、德国、丹麦、西班牙、葡萄牙、希腊、爱尔兰也会看到同样的情况。
In many countries in the world, coal is dying.
在世界上许多国家，煤炭正在枯死。
Taking its place are renewables, where costs are plummeting.
取而代之的是可再生能源，其成本正在直线下降。
The cost of solar has fallen by 99.8 percent since 1970, fallen by 90 percent in the last decade alone.
自1970年以来，太阳能成本下降了99.8％，仅在过去十年中就太阳能成本下降了99.8％，仅在过去十年中就下降了90％。
And if you're worried that it looks like this price trend is leveling off, don't be.
而且，如果你担心这种价格趋势看起来会趋于平稳，那就不要这样做。
When we zoom in, we see that the price of solar continues to fall.
当我们放大时，我们看到太阳能价格继续下跌。
And the same is true for wind.
风也是如此。
Go back a decade, and solar and wind were among the most expensive energy technologies we had.
追溯到十年前，太阳能和风能是我们拥有的最昂贵的能源技术之一。
That is why the world was not making progress, that is why countries were not deploying them -- they were far too expensive.
这就是为什么世界没有取得进展，这就是为什么各国没有部署它们的原因——它们太昂贵了。
But just ten years on, and that script has flipped.
但是仅仅十年过去了，剧本就发生了翻转。
In many countries in the world, solar and wind are now the cheapest.
在世界上许多国家，太阳能和风能现在是最便宜的。
